Hew Locke: What Have We Here? at the British Museum

Name: Hew Locke: What Have We Here?
Start: 2024-10-17
End: 2025-02-09
Location: British Museum

Where? British Museum, Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury When? 17th October 2024 to 9th February 2025 10 AM to 5 PM (Mon-Thu, Sat-Sun); 10 AM to 8.30 PM (Fri); Last entry 15 mins before closing Price? £16 · See britishmuseum.org Parking: Nearby car parks Buses: 1, 7, 8, 10, 14, 19, 24, 25, 29, 38, 55, 59, 68, 73, 91, 98, 134, 168, 188, 242, 390, X68 Bus fares Trains: The closest station is Tottenham Court Road Central Elizabeth Northern Other nearby stations: Holborn and Russell Square Train fares

The British Museum is inviting you to view their collection through the eyes of Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke, in a collaborative exhibition that explores the history of British imperial power from the early modern period to the present day.

By selecting pieces from the museum's own collection, and then questioning and challenging the narratives of British imperialism, Locke will offer a fresh perspective on the sometimes messy ways in which museums are often implicated in their country's history.

Asante Pendant by R & S Garrard & Co — Asante Pendant: R & S Garrard & Co, 1874

But he's not trying to condemn (or celebrate) our imperial legacy, rather, he's aiming to reveal the multitude of different ways in which it still informs our contemporary culture.

Transatlantic slave trade

One of the key themes of the exhibition is trade, and how it was often controlled by rich corporations like the East India Company and Royal African Company, that later became heavily involved in the transatlantic slave trade.

Caiman wrestling with a snake by Dorothea Graff — Caiman wrestling with a snake: Dorothea Graff (1678–1743)

Many of the objects chosen by Locke were spoils of war, like a silver-gilt dish that might have belonged to an important priest in the Asantehene's (King's) court, and was paid to the government following his defeat in the Third Anglo-Asante War.

Other treasures on display include the earliest drawing of an Indigenous American by a European artist, animals drawings by the botanical artist Maria Sibylla Merian, a Barbados Penny that was struck on a colonised sugarcane plantation, and a Guyanese Akawaio feather headdress.

Hew Locke's The Watchers

Locke was born in Scotland but spent his childhood in Guyana, which allowed him to witness Britain's interactions with Africa, India and the Caribbean first hand - both before and after Guyana gained independence.

The exhibition will feature a newly-commissioned work by Locke himself - The Watchers - a series of sculptural figures that observe the visitors from various points around the room.

What the critics say...

The Guardian: ★★★★★ "This is the beginning of a conversation"; Evening Standard: ★★★★ "Endlessly fascinating and illuminating"; The Telegraph: ★★★★ "Unflinchingly curious"